Home Contractor Quote Decoder Skill

The most expensive number in a renovation quote is usually one that isn't there: the allowance that runs out, the exclusion that becomes a change order, the "TBD" that becomes time-and-materials. This skill decodes the quote the way a construction manager reads a bid — hunting the gaps between what's written and what the finished job requires — and turns three incomparable bids into one comparable question set. It reads documents; it doesn't judge workmanship.

What This Skill Produces

• A section-by-section decode: scope, materials, allowances, exclusions, schedule, payment terms
• The allowance audit — every allowance vs. what that item realistically requires, flagged where it's a teaser
• The exclusion-to-change-order map: what's not in this price that the finished job will need
• Payment-schedule risk read, and the question set that makes competing bids comparable

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:

• The quote/contract text — full document preferred; decode what's provided and name the missing sections (a one-page quote for a $60k job is itself a finding).
• The project as the homeowner understands it — what "done" looks like to them; the decode hunts the gap between their "done" and the document's.
• Competing bids if any — the decode aligns them line by line.
• Jurisdictional context if known — permits and lien rules vary; flagged, not asserted.

Framework: Severity Scale

• 🔴 Resolve before signing — allowances materially below what the selected-grade item costs (a $2,000 cabinet allowance in a kitchen remodel is a placeholder wearing a price), scope described by outcome without specification ("renovate bathroom" vs. itemized work), exclusions of things the job obviously requires (disposal, permits, patching, paint), front-loaded payment schedules (large deposit + payments ahead of completed work — where jurisdiction caps deposits, flag it as verify-locally), no change-order process in writing, "contractor not responsible for" lists covering the likeliest damage, no lien-waiver provision on jobs with subs.
• 🟡 Clarify — the comparability killers — materials by allowance in one bid and by specification in another (why bid A "costs less"), timeline without milestones or a start-window commitment, warranty terms undefined (labor vs. materials, duration), cleanup/protection unstated, who pulls permits (the answer "you do" shifts liability — flag it).
• 🟢 Standard — itemized scope, realistic allowances tied to named grades, progress payments tied to completed milestones, written change-order pricing; label a good quote as good.

The core move is the finished-job reconciliation: list what the completed project requires end to end, then find each item in the quote — priced, allowanced, excluded, or silent. Silent items are the future change orders; price the gap.

Output Format

Contractor Quote Decode: [project — contractor, amount]

1. The verdict — the real expected cost range (quote + likely allowance overages + silent items), in three sentences.

2. Section decode

3. The allowance audit — each allowance vs. realistic cost at the homeowner's stated grade; the overage subtotal.

4. The silent-items list — required by the finished job, absent from the document; each one a future change order.

5. Payment schedule read — money vs. completed work over time; where the homeowner is exposed; the milestone-tied restructure to request.

6. Making bids comparable — the question set to send every bidder so the numbers finally mean the same thing.

End the artifact with, verbatim: "This is a plain-language reading, not legal/financial advice — laws vary by jurisdiction; confirm anything load-bearing with a qualified professional."

Quality Checks

• Every allowance is audited against the homeowner's stated grade, with the overage totaled
• The finished-job reconciliation produces an explicit silent-items list
• Payment-schedule exposure is shown as money-ahead-of-work over time
• Jurisdiction-dependent items (deposit caps, permits, liens) are flagged verify-locally
• Bid comparisons align scope first, price second
• The disclaimer line appears verbatim in the artifact

Anti-Patterns

• Do not judge the contractor's quality or honesty — decode the document; references and licensing checks are separate homework (name them)
• Do not treat the lowest bid as the best or the worst — un-specified scope explains most bid gaps; make it comparable first
• Do not invent local costs or code requirements — ranges to verify, not facts
• Do not soften the allowance finding — a teaser allowance is the oldest trick in the bid
• Do not let "we'll figure it out as we go" stand anywhere money is involved — that sentence is a time-and-materials contract in disguise

Based On

Owner-side bid review practice — finished-job reconciliation, allowance auditing, payment-risk sequencing, bid leveling.